Oral History Project Led by Francesca Humi: Information and Call for Participants

In Spring 2020, 22% of Covid-19 related deaths amongst NHS nurses were Filipino, despite them representing only 3.8% of NHS nurses. The pandemic threw health, care, and domestic work into the limelight and exposed the precarious working and visa conditions of many of these workers. However, this initial recognition has not led to material changes for the community, nor any sustained efforts to tell its story.

Filipinos have migrated to the UK for decades – in particular since the 1970s, following the 1974 Labor Export Policy established by dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Building on the nursing schools set up during the American colonisation of the Philippines, this policy created systems to facilitate the mass migration of Filipino workers abroad, in order to capitalise on their remittances. Today, it is estimated that over 10 million Filipinos live and work abroad, approximately 200,000 of which are in the UK. Most Filipino migrants in the UK work in health and care work – meaning they have experienced first-hand the devastation of privatisation, austerity, and repressive immigration policy, both as workers and migrants. The Filipino migrant community has a proud history of organising for their rights through workers’ associations, e.g. Waling-Waling set up in 1984 by migrant domestic workers and Filipino nurses’ associations established during the pandemic; and through formal organisations, such as Kalayaan, Kanlungan Filipino Consortium, and the Commission for Filipino Migrant Workers, all founded in the 1980s.

Analysing the experiences of Filipino migrants offers a useful lens through which to understand the contemporary neoliberal division of labour, which relies on exploitable workers to provide care work essential to sustaining class structures. Oral history provides a way of building a history “from below”, reflecting the community’s tradition of collectively organising for their rights. This archive will build a sense of connection within and between communities, helping them understand past struggles and build on those lessons to take action for their future. Furthermore, it is urgent for these life stories to be recorded before community elders who migrated in the 1970s pass way.

There is a paucity of resources providing a historical and politically engaged account of Filipino migration to Britain, meaning community campaigners do not necessarily know their community’s history, nor is there a record of campaigning and community successes from which to draw inspiration and learning. This also makes working with media, informing Government consultation, and providing evidence more challenging, which Humi experienced first-hand whilst leading campaigns at Kanlungan, and now working on the Covid-19 Inquiry. Even when it exists, research has been produced by academics from outside the community, with little-to-no positive material impact on the lives of Filipino migrants.

Building on this context, this project aims to:

1. Fill the gap in public knowledge about the history of Filipino migration to the UK through an oral history archive that centres the voices of Filipino nurses, carers, domestic workers, and spouses.
2. Provide a historical grounding for current and future community politicisation and organising within the Filipino community and beyond.
3. Use this research to write a non-fiction book about the history of Filipino migration to the UK since 1974.

 

Call for Participants: Interviewees and Volunteers

 

For more about this project, please visit https://www.filipinooralhistoryproject.uk/

Interviewees

I am looking for Filipino nurses, carers, domestic workers, and spouses in the UK who are willing to be interviewed about their experience coming to the UK and living and working here.

Volunteers

I am also looking for volunteers to help transcribe and translate (from Tagalog/Filipino to English) interviews.

Interested? Please email to get in touch: filipinooralhistoryuk@gmail.com

Filipino po ba kayo?

Ito ay oral history project na naglalayong itala ang mga kwento ng buhay ng mga migranteng Filipino na dumating sa UK mula noong 1970s.

Mga nakapanayam

Naghahanap po ako ng mga Filipino nurses, tagapag-alaga (carers), kasambahay (domestice workers) at/o mga asawa ng mga ito na handang magpa-interbyu tungkol sa kanilang karanasan sa pagpunta, paninirahan at paghahanap-buhay dito sa UK.

Mga boluntaryo

Naghahanap din po ako ng mga boluntaryo na tutulong sa pag-transcribe at pagsasalin (mula sa Tagalog/Filipino hanggang Ingles) ng mga panayam.

Interesado po ba kayo? Mangyaring mag-email lamang sa para makipag-ugnayan: filipinooralhistoryuk@gmail.com